Mark Jacobsā?? $1.65 million investment in his bid for the GOP Senate nod makes up 70 percent of the $2.37 million in total campaign receipts. / Mary Willie, The Des Moines Register

by Jennifer Jacobs, The Des Moines Register

by Jennifer Jacobs, The Des Moines Register

DES MOINES, Iowa -- Millionaire U.S. Senate candidate Mark Jacobs has secured a state record: He has chipped in more of his own money to fuel his campaign than any other Iowan running for office in state history.

Jacobs has spent more than $1.65 million from his own pocket, his campaign disclosure report to the Federal Election Commission shows. Longtime Democratic and GOP campaign operatives say they don't know of any other Iowa candidate who has topped that.

Self-funders are rare in Iowa. Each case is different, but they don't have a good record of election success, in Iowa history or recent election cycles nationally.

Democrat Roxanne Conlin of Des Moines poured $1.07 million of her personal wealth into her 2010 Senate race, only to lose to popular GOP incumbent Chuck Grassley. Republican Mike Whalen of Bettendorf used $624,000 of his own cash, pushing past his GOP competitors in a 2006 congressional race but getting pummeled in the general election by Democratic newcomer Bruce Braley.

Nationally, just 14 of the 69 candidates who spent at least $1 million of their own money in the last two election cycles in their House and Senate races claimed victory, a review by the Campaign Finance Institute found.

Money can give a candidate a huge edge in getting out his or her campaign message, but it can't force voters to like the message or the messenger, Iowa politics watchers and past candidates told The Des Moines Register.

Conlin, a Des Moines lawyer who refused to take campaign money from political action committees, said one advantage of self-funding is that the money pays for TV advertisements, which are expensive and "known to be effective." The downside is that Iowans might look askance at a candidate who tilts the playing field by using his or her own bank accounts.

Self-funders are often popular with political operatives, who benefit from campaign spending on TV advertising, direct mail and telemarketing to promote their message, politics watchers said. But self-financing can be a strategic error, they said.

"Money alone is not what makes large fundraising successful - it is the buy-in by those who 'invested' in the candidate," said Steffen Schmidt, a political scientist at Iowa State University.

"In other words," he said, "if someone gives $25 to Candidate A, they will vote for Candidate A because they have 'stock' in that candidate. If you get thousands of people to give just $2, you have thousands of likely voters. If you spend $500,000 of your own money, you only have the vote from that one contributor - you."

Jacobs, former CEO of a Texas energy company, is in a five-way battle for the GOP nomination. The primary election is June 3. The winner will take on Braley, now a seven-year congressional incumbent. The seat is open because Democratic Sen. Tom Harkin is retiring.

Asked if he faces an uphill battle, given the track records of other self-funders in Iowa and nationally, Jacobs said he hasn't studied the others.

"What I will tell you is I'm committed to running the type of campaign it takes that's not only going to be a success in the June 3 primary but also in the Nov. 4 general election," Jacobs said.

Braley has raised $5.2 million so far for his Senate race, Jacobs noted, "and I'm going do what I can to keep pace with what Congressman Braley's doing."

Jacobs has financed the majority of his campaign expenses from his personal fortune. His $1.65 million investment makes up 70 percent of the $2.37 million in total campaign receipts. He said his investment is an antidote for Iowans who are concerned about politicians becoming beholden to special interests.

"I am personally invested in this campaign in a significant way, and I'm doing this because I love our state. I love our country," he said.

Jacobs' closest competitor in fundraising and recent polls, state Sen. Joni Ernst, has received money from more individual donors, but Jacobs isn't far behind, records show. He has raised $694,000 from individuals, while Ernst has raised $720,000.

Whalen, the Bettendorf businessman who lost to Braley in 2006, financed about a fourth of his $2.39 million campaign.

He said he didn't lose because he was a self-funder but because the winds shifted to favor Democrats as Iowans grew more disillusioned with the Bush administration and the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. But if candidates lean too heavily on their own pocketbooks, they risk turning off voters, he said.

"There's a tipping point," he said.

Conlin, asked about spending $1 million in personal funds on her 2010 race, answered, laughing: "I probably would've felt a lot better about it if I'd won."